Ceramic column grid arrays, also known as contact column grid arrays, is an emerging technology for the packaging of integrated electronic components or modules. These contact column grid arrays are made of solder columns and are used to connect the electronic module to a card or circuit board. Since the solder columns in such arrays are typically made of solder alloy and are soft and fragile, the module with the attached columns must be handled with care or the columns could be damaged and bent out of alignment and result in ineffective electrical connections. This could entail expensive identification and replacement of the assembled damaged module.
Modern electronic device module designs comprise an insulative substrate having one or more integrated circuit chips and other devices on an upper surface and a grid matrix array of interconnecting terminals on a lower surface of the module providing for electrical contact to the chips. The terminals of the contact column grid array could be positioned over the entire lower surface of the module thus providing greater circuit density than other interconnecting arrangements, which typically require greater separation between the contact elements, or may be located only around the periphery of the module. Use of contact column grid array modules have been found to provide more beneficial results than other arrays such as ball grid arrays. As is typical in the electronic packaging industry, after the terminals or contacts have been assembled on the module they must be tested. This is done so as to identify any defective module connections before the module is ultimately assembled in a package to thereby eliminate the significant time and expense and possible damage to the module resulting from having to disassemble the module from the package.
As indicated, prior to permanently assembling the column grid array modules on to circuit boards or cards, there is a requirement and practice to electrically test each of the columns in the array. This is done by bringing test probes into contact with each of the columns. It is desirable to be able to carry out this testing automatically, efficiently and speedily without continuous activity from a human operator. The number of columns employed in arrays have increased significantly over time and could be in the order of 1,600 columns. Since the columns can readily become misaligned, bent or damaged, accurate subsequent test results for the module may not be obtained. The subject invention facilitates the handling of the contact column array modules in the aligning of the column interconnections and electrical testing of each column and the invention also provides useful and beneficial results in other applications.
A variety of configurations of solder connections have been used in circuit board assemblies and electronic card devices to provide electrical interconnections in order to electrically bond components together and to mount components carrying integrated circuit devices on modules for mounting on substrates, boards or cards. With the trend in electronic package and circuit assembly to higher functionality and complexity, there is a significant increase in the required number of electrical interconnections. While development continues to miniaturize interconnection size and pitch, the rate of increase in electronic module package complexity often occurs at such a rapid rate that package miniaturization cannot keep pace and therefore some package sizes must actually be increased. However, where device package sizes are decreased and the number of input/output leads typically increases, the size of the individual interconnections and the spacing between adjacent contacts must be reduced, resulting in potential difficulties in positioning and securing components on the surface of circuit boards, circuit cards and the like. In any event, in view of the expense of the various components and modules involved, there is a requirement to test each of the interconnection elements of the module before it is permanently assembled into a package and onto a card.
The testing of interconnecting elements has been known in the electronic packaging industry. One such example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,929,646 which issued Jul. 27, 1999 to International Business Machines Corporation, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, and is entitled “Interposer and Module Test Card Assembly”. This patent describes an arrangement to facilitate the testing of semiconductor devices packaged in surface mount modules such as ball grid array or cylinder grid array modules, while the modules are connected to a system board. This arrangement allows chips to be tested without the need for the chip to be packaged in a specialized module for testing or for the creation of specialized system boards for testing. Included is a module test card which has a plurality of landing pads connected to a plurality of test pins on the upper surface thereof and also connected to a plurality of landing pads on the bottom of the module test card. The module test card is then interconnected with the circuit module and an interposer mechanism for connection to the system board thereby permitting testing of the assembly by means of the variety of test pins.
Another example of an arrangement for testing of interconnections of electronic circuitry is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,605 entitled “Electrical Test Apparatus and Method”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, which issued to AT&T Corporation on Mar. 19, 1996. The electronic devices to be tested are of the type having on one side an array of conductive projections such as solder balls. Spring loaded probes are provided in a similar arrangement which when activated, project through an array of apertures in an insulative template. The electronic device is forced against the template such that each contact projects into the aperture of the template in order to be contacted by the spring loaded conductive probes. Electrical testing can then be carried out by means of the probes.
In light of the known shortcomings with the prior art in the handling of integrated circuit modules having an array of interconnecting elements, of which the teachings of the above patent references are examples, an object of the present invention is to provide a self-aligning module template and method of use to ensure the interconnecting elements are properly positioned while maintaining their alignment.
A further object of the invention is to provide such a self-aligning module template and method to properly hold each module for a variety of activities including testing the interconnecting elements, storing the modules and transporting or shipping the modules.
A further object of this invention is to provide such a self-aligning module template and method which can be advantageously used with modules having a variety of interconnecting elements including those consisting of column grid arrays and pin arrays.